Conversations with Portraits
by SadieDeth
Summary: Collection of stories involving Hermione and Lucius' portrait.
1. Chapter 1

I walk down the hallway with my head down; I don't want to see them watching me, it's honestly bad enough hearing them talk about me while I'm walking past them.

It's one of the many reasons I hate Malfoy Manor.

"Taking a midnight strole, Ms. Granger?" It's Lucius' portrait. I swear he follows me as I walk through the mansion.

"It's Mrs. Malfoy now." I reply smoothly. I resist the urge to call him dad, there's no use antagonizing a painting. Well, no use in antagonizing one too much, anyway.

"I'm quite aware of your relationship with my boy." He says.

I nod and continue with my walk, I'm trying my hardest to make it to the library. I just remembered that I left my favorite book there this afternoon and if I don't retrieve it quickly, it'll never be seen again.

"How's Narcissa?" He's a few paintings in front of me now. He moves quickly for something that should be attached to a canvas.

Narcissa took down all of the portraits in her room so that he couldn't visit her. She couldn't bear to hear him tell her how unhappy he was with her for turning her back on him after the war. He couldn't believe she had helped Harry. For that she was a blood-traitor. For that, he could hardly consider her his wife.

Or, that's what he had said before he was executed.

"She's doing well." I keep walking.

"That's... good. Do tell her that I miss her."

I nod knowing that I won't say anything of the sort to her. Talking about her late husband is painful, I hate seeing her hurt.

"And, Ms. Granger? Keep my boy out of trouble, will you?"

I stop walking and look at Lucius. Although he's just a painting there's so little emotion on his face, even after saying this, that I can't help but think for a split second that he's alive again and staring me in the face. He was always so cold in life, why should he be any different in death?

"I'll try." I reply.

"And one more thing!" He calls as I finally pass the line of portraits.

"Yes?"

"Try to resist the urge to name your son after me." He's smiling.

I just nod. Maybe cold Lucius was an act. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't always the cruel man that I had come to know through the years.

Maybe he just like the rest of us, a shade of grey. Not pure evil, but not entirely good.

But I don't have time to ponder over the way Lucius acted when he was alive, or how he's acting now that he's a portrait.

I really really need to find that book before it disapears. 


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hi! So, I totally don't have access to the internet right now, so I can't look up the age difference between Lucius and Narcissa or how they actually met, so this is all my imagination. I think it'll be more fun this way anyway. _

_Also, I'm not being paid for this or anything silly like that and all of the characters are property of J.K. Rowling._

Hermione sighed and closed her book, she'd read it at least a thousand times before and could almost quote the entire thing. She needed something new to entertain her, some other story to keep her mind off of her aching back and swollen ankles.

"I could tell you how I met Narcissa if you're bored of reading of Hogwarts." Lucius said from his portrait. He had taken to visiting her room often, mostly to comment on how closely she resembled a whale. Hermione thought she looked quite adorable pregnant, but her father-in-law obviously didn't. Or he was simply teasing her; it's so hard to tell with him.

"I could never grow tired of reading about Hogwarts, it's just so interesting. I could tell you all kinds of things about the school that you probably never knew."

Lucius laughed loudly, "No thank you, my dear, I'm quite fine being blissfully ignorant of whatever it is you find so interesting about that dreadful place. Besides, I rarely get to tell this story, and it's such a good one."

Hermione raised her eyebrow in suspicion but nodded her agreement to listen nonetheless.

The portrait of Lucius cleared his throat and began his tale, "It was a lovely day in Diagon Alley. I was on my way to The Leaky Cauldron when a beautiful woman with long, flowing white hair caught my attention. She was carrying a large amount of books, so I asked her if I could help."

"I was very charming back then, you see, and very much believed that I could woo any woman that caught my eye. I think I'm still rather charming now… but you and the rest of the household seem to think otherwise. Anyway, I introduced myself and asked if I could help her carry them. The woman told me that her name was Narcissa Black and told me that she was perfectly capable of carrying her own books, thank you."

Lucius laughed, "She pushed me rather rudely out of the way and continued on to wherever it was she was going. After that encounter, I was in love. I had never been treated in such a way in my life and greatly respected anyone who dared to do it. When we met again at a party a few months later, I made sure to speak to her again. She was far more agreeable that time."

Hermione smiled slightly, trying to imagine a young Lucius in love. Oddly enough, she found she thought of him looking a lot like her Draco. It was slightly unnerving so she banished the thought.

"What happened then?" She asked.

"What do you mean, Miss Granger?" He replied.

"It's Mrs. Malfoy now, but you know that. I mean, what happened to loving Narcissa?"

He thought for a moment before replying, "Nothing, I still love my wife. That's why I told her that I didn't. I had to keep her safe from the ministry, Hermione. She helped Potter, of course, but there will always be those who believe that I would do anything for the Dark Lord. So, if he somehow rose again and I was still alive and with Narcissa…"

"You denounced her to keep her safe just in case Voldemort rose again?" Hermione asked, her eyebrow raised.

"When you say it like that it sounds rather silly."

Hermione smiled, "It is rather silly, but also rather sweet. You should tell her."

"I would love to, but she's taken down all of the portraits in her room." He said.

"I'll see what I can do about that." Hermione replied as she rose from her chair and walked to the wall. She picked out the smallest portrait and took it from the wall.

As she made her way out of the library, Lucius called to her saying, "You really don't look like a whale, Hermione. I was only joking."

Hermione smiled to herself as she carried the portrait to Narcissa's room, snuck in, and hung it on the wall as quietly as she could.

"I really hope that she doesn't find out that I'm the one who let her husband back in." Hermione thought to herself as she exited the room and found her way to her own. "If she did… Actually, I don't want to think about that."

She crawled into her bed and thought about Lucius' tale as she fell asleep instead of her aching back and swollen ankles.


End file.
